


golden

by royais (orphan_account)



Category: Naruto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 17:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15223817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/royais
Summary: i'll edit this tomorrow





	golden

hinata knew all along that things weren’t mean to work out. a story was written in the stars for him and it was a tale that didn’t include her. it was clear that he wanted to make it work, for hinata’s sake, but their end was inevitable. the sky was pitch black that night, not a single star gracing its openness. hinata couldn’t stop looking at the sky through the window of the newly renovated ichiraku ramen shop, hoping that she would find a tiny ball of gas out there somewhere. but there was nothing, just emptiness that matched her knowing heart. naruto continuously pulling her attention back to him yet every time he did, hinata eventually looked out the window again. 

with seconds ticking away, nearing the closing time of ichiraku, naruto took a deep breath and grabbed hinata’s hand with his own. as he ran his thumb over her soft skin, something he did when he was sorry, hinata feared what was coming. naruto’s eyes were glistening, showing early signs of tears that he didn’t want to let loose. 

“you don’t have to say anything,” she said quietly, gaze breaking from her lover’s eyes to meet the wooden floor. hinata pulled her hand out of naruto’s, letting it fall into her lap. her heart was twisting deep in her chest, suffocating itself with the truth that she ignored for the past few weeks. naruto didn’t love her, at least not like she loved him. 

“i know.” 

“h-hinata…”

tears filled her lavender eyes at the sound of his cracking voice. of course, she would cry like she always did. she couldn’t say anything, she couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe. this was home to her, these feelings of weakness and nothing. hinata had grown strong enough to stare an enemy down, but not a lover… not naruto. 

“it’s not your fault—” he started, reaching out for her once again but hinata pushed his oncoming hand away. an unknown source of power riled up in her stomach, giving her the strength to act out and for once, speak her mind. maybe she thought she couldn’t face the golden man in front of her, but something deep in her heart knew that she could do this. naruto, stunned by her actions, leaned back in his chair as hinata began to talk. 

“you’re not going to make this any easier by rambling about nothing and trying to comfort me. just go. don’t look for me, don’t talk to me on the streets. if you truly care about me, you’ll leave me alone.” despite the droplets pouring from the corners of her eyes, hinata’s voice did not waver.   
“i always knew that things would come to this. no matter how much you lied to yourself, you will never feel the same way i do and it’s fine.” she bit out the word. naruto had lied to himself for too long, but hinata has only begun. it definitely wasn’t fine. nobody should be with someone that they don’t genuinely have feelings for, they shouldn’t force themselves to love a person that they housed no affection for. 

“i just wish you wouldn’t of lied to me about your feelings.”

“don’t think for a second that there was a time where i didn’t love you,” naruto snapped, gaining the attention of the few customers left in the restaurant. normally, hinata would’ve flinched at his harsh tone but she sat, unmoving, in the seat across from him. “my confession wasn’t a lie, hinata. back then i loved you with every inch of my body and i’m sorry that i don’t anymore. this… this hurts me too, hina. i wanted nothing more than to love you for eternity but i can’t.” 

hinata didn’t say anything. she didn’t know what to say. all she could do was let the tears stroll down her reddened cheeks. hinata knew that he was telling the truth, he had definitely loved her. there was once a time where nobody could make him light up with happiness except her. yet a voice in the back of her mind reminded her that it was all pity, that he loved everybody and that everybody made him happy. it was never solely her. 

“why aren’t you saying anything?” naruto questioned, scrunching his nose in irritation. hinata was never silent like this. when they had other arguments she would talk calmly about the situation at hand, not just sit and take in his words without a response. 

she was hurting in a way that she had never hurt before. this wasn’t the death of a close one, rather a death deep within her soul that shook her to the core. hinata could feel the pieces of her heart cracking off and falling to the pit of her stomach. it was over. they were done. not a thing in the world could keep the two of them together any longer and although it hurt now, hinata knew that she would one day get over it. she was strong enough to get over him.

“are you going to answer me?” pulled quickly out of thought, hinata snapped back to the reality in front of her. a part of her wanted to break down in front of him, pour her entire heart onto the table until it drowned them both. but she didn’t. she couldn’t. 

“no.” a simple answer. a final word. hinata wasted no time getting up from her seat and leaving the restaurant, wanting to get as far away from naruto as possible. she couldn’t sit there for another second so she left and ran out into the empty road. 

the sky above her was still pitch black. there was no light to guide her home, no naruto to walk her there. this was the life she would have to become accustomed to. a life without the sunshine boy. 

 

 

kiba was pissed, snarling as hinata told the story of her breakup. shino sat in silence, listening to every word that fell from hinata’s lips. he was definitely upset, just better at hiding it than kiba. hinata looked tired. with hair disheveled from having not been brushed in days and lilac hues encircled her eyes, indicating that she hadn’t been sleeping well. she was a mess. 

the three were sitting on the floor of hinata’s room. long cloths covered the windows and the door was locked shut, preventing any of her clan members from coming in and interrupting them. a small desk lamp was on, providing the room with the tiniest bit of light, enough for them to see each other.

“he can’t just fucking do that! who does he think he is… breaking your heart like that! the next time i see that ugly asshole i’m going to punch him square in the nose,” kiba snapped, akamaru following his words with approving barks. 

“please don’t,” whispered hinata, leaning back against the fluffy white dog behind her. the feeling of akarmaru’s warm fur against her back filled her with reassurance. although the dog couldn’t speak, he could understand feelings and could still comfort a hurt friend. “i want to forget him, that’s all.” 

“that’s fine but i’ll make sure he’ll never forget you.” forever stubborn, kiba would defend hinata until his dying breath. ever since they became teammates, he felt the need to stand in front of anything that came her way. if somebody hurt her, he would go running after them and instantly make them regret it. konoha’s savior was no exception. 

“kiba,” shino started, raising a hand to calm his teammate. he knew very well that kiba was reckless, quick to act out and stir up more trouble than he needed too. being the voice of reason in their group, shino felt responsible for holding kiba back. “i find it best if we comfort hinata and leave the other one alone. it will only cause unneeded conflict in the village.” 

knowing he was defeated, kiba let out a huff. he wanted to hunt down the uzumaki right now and give him a piece of his mind, but he also didn’t want to hurt hinata. so, he wouldn’t do anything. at least for now. 

a tranquil silence took over the room. shino wouldn’t take his eyes off hinata, thankful that his glasses shut her out from his gaze. he was worried for her and anticipated a breakdown at any moment. if anything were to happen, he wanted to be the first to console her. kiba, on the other hand, was staring at the floor beneath him. he hated knowing that hinata was feeling so empty and he desperately wanted to do something about it. nobody could hurt her like that and get away with it. 

“i knew we would never be together forever,” hinata murmured after a handful of minutes. she had spent the time thinking of something to say. with so many emotions swirling in her head, she didn’t know which one to touch on until it hit her that she hadn’t spoken the truth she hid for so long. that she knew very well her and naruto weren’t mean to be. “his love wasn’t made for me like mine was for him.” 

shino reached out, wrapping his arm around his best friend and pulling her close to his body as they rested against akamaru. “whether he loves you or not, you are not going to let this break you completely. you are hyuuga hinata, heiress to the most prestigious clan in the land. you are strong enough to get through this and we will be here to help you through every minute of it. right, kiba? akamaru?”

kiba nodded in response, unable to fight back his smile. akamaru wagged his tail, his own way of agreeing. hinata sniffled, pulling both kiba and shino into a tight hug. naruto had shattered her heart to pieces, but she still had her favorite boys to pick her pieces up and glue them back together. 

“now, let’s go get some food, then go see kurenai-sensei! mirai is gonna be upset if we forget our weekly visit,” kiba said, getting up off the floor. yes, this is exactly what hinata needed, to be surrounded by her family. 

 

a week passed by and hinata had yet to leave the hyuuga compound. it was stupid, she decided, that she would rather stay locked up in the compound than go into the village and risk seeing naruto. hinata felt nothing less than pathetic while staying hidden away in her bedroom, only leaving to eat and use the bathroom. kiba and shino visited here and there when they could and hanabi spent as much time with her as possible, but that didn’t prevent the feelings of loneliness that came on. 

hinata had grown accustomed to devoting most of her time to being with naruto over the year and a half they were together. most days were spent lounging around his apartment, watching movies and snacking on cup ramen. naruto was fond of comedy movies and although hinata preferred dramas, she loved hearing her boyfriend laugh more. they would always fall asleep laying all over each other, arms around waists and faces pressed into a neck or a chest. transitioning into being alone, into sleeping alone wasn’t supposed to be easy but hinata never expected it to be this hard. 

she wished that she could welcome loneliness with open arms, bringing it into her chest and embracing the solitude it brung her, but all hinata could do was burn in the emptiness of being isolated from everybody. perhaps it was selfish of her to hide away. it upset her other friends and she knew it. shino had slipped it out the last time he visited, that sakura, ino, and tenten missed hinata and were worried about her wellbeing. the three girls were still in the dark, not knowing of naruto and hinata’s breakup and although hinata wanted to keep it that way, she realized that it wasn’t fair to any of them which is how she ended up in the small cafe surrounded by her friends. 

it would be an understatement to say that hinata felt out of place. nobody had said anything other than hello when they all met up, the silence leaving hinata’s heart to beat fast with nerves. were they so mad that they didn’t know what to say? or were they waiting for hinata to be the one to break the silence and answer the unsaid question thrown up in the air? hinata took a deep breath, deciding to be the one to talk first than to continue sitting in awkwardness. 

“i’m sorry,” she started, fiddling with her thumbs underneath the table. “i know that you guys have been worried about me recently and i’m really sorry for being so absent. things have been going downhill for me and i’ve been locked up in my room since it all started. my actions were selfish and i realize that, i should’ve told you guys so-”

“hinata, please, shut up,” said sakura, interrupting her. the pink haired girl shot hinata a little glare that wasn’t much of a glare at all, but more like a look that told hinata that she shouldn’t be so sorry. “yes, we were worried but we just want to know what happened so we can help you. whatever you’ve been going through, you don’t have to go through it alone. you know that, right?”

ino and tenten nodded in agreement. with all three girls now looking directly at hinata, the hyuuga girl could feel her cheeks start to heat up with embarrassment. she had been so incredibly stupid for pushing her friends away when all they wanted to do was help her. at least now she had the chance to let them in on the events that had passed. now she had the chance to start rebuilding herself. 

“he left me,” hinata whispered, eyes focused on the table. she pulled the cup of coffee she had ordered when they first arrived closer to her body, the warmth of the drink calming her slightly. tears that she wished she could hold back were running down her flushed cheeks. there was no way she would be able to talk about the breakup without shedding a couple of tears. “a week or so ago we went out to eat and i… i could just knew what was going to happen and i was right. i don’t even know why honestly, he just said that he can’t love me forever. i—i guess he fell out of love with me a good bit before he broke up with me and i just wish he wouldn’t of dragged it out for so long. anyway, since that night i’ve been locked up in my house. i’ve only seen hanabi, kiba, and shino. again, i’m really sorry that i didn’t tell you guys. honestly, i didn’t want to leave the compound because i was so scared of seeing him.” 

listening to hinata’s explanation wasn’t easy for any of the girls at the table. from the second she began talking, sakura wanted to jump up and punch something. she couldn’t believe that her teammate had been so fucking stupid, well actually, she could but she’d like to think that he would’ve been better to hinata instead of dragging out the ends of their relationship for so long. ino was tapping her fingernails against the table in irritation, holding back from running out of the cafe to find the uzumaki boy and drag him through the dirt of the village. tenten had her chin in the palm of her hand, contemplating which weapons she had in stock that would be invincible against naruto. 

“he’s a fucking idiot,” ino said, reaching for hinata’s hand and squeezing it with her own. “i know that you’ve seen him as the backbone to your strength, hinata, but you’re even stronger without him. breakups aren’t easy, especially considering how long you’ve loved him and how long you two were together, but i know that all of this will pass. you’re broken now, but you won’t always be. we’ll be here for you through it all, including kiba, shino, and hanabi.” 

“yeah!” tenten said brightly, flashing hinata her typical friendly grin. “and if you want us to fight him, we will, because i really want to right now. he may be strong as shit but he wouldn’t dare to hit one of us. we’d definitely kick his ass.” 

“that’s exactly what i was thinking, tenten!” sakura exclaimed, rubbing her left fist into her right palm as if she was preparing for a fight. 

“i’ll sneak into his head and let you two rough him up. sound like a plan?” ino joined in on the idea to fuck up naruto, smirking at the idea of actually going against the blonde boy. 

“i’m down,” tenten said, patting the scroll full of sealed weapons to her right.

“he’s probably around here somewhere, it won’t be too hard to find him,” sakura added, voice cold with seriousness.

hinata couldn’t help but laugh at her friends and their outrageous plan. she was actually smiling for what felt like the first time in years. it was only natural that the girls she was closest to would bring a laugh out of her sadness. 

“i love you guys so much,” hinata said through her giggles. she had been crying from sadness only a minute ago, but now her tears were full of glee. “but you really don’t have to go fight him or anything. i’d rather leave the situation alone.”

“you don’t have to do anything at all,” sakura stated, “but nothing is going to stop me from standing up for you. he broke your heart and i think it’s only fair if somebody breaks his.” 

hours later after chatting about life and getting hinata’s mind off of the dumb boy with ocean eyes, hinata went back to the hyuuga compound and all three girls searched the village for naruto. it only took them a couple of minutes, he was always out and about at this time of the day, just before the sunset and night took over the sky. the second sakura caught a glimpse of his bright hair, she dashed over to him and pulled him back by the collar of his shirt. 

“what the—! hey, sakura, what are you doing?!” he yelped after being grabbed from the back, by the power that pulled him he knew that it was his pink haired teammate holding onto him. with sakura’s immense strength dragging him, naruto felt as if he was flying across the dirt paths of konoha. he had yet to notice 

“taking you to a training field,” ino snapped. naruto’s head turned back slightly to see three women, faces blushed with anger. whatever he had done, he knew that he was in big trouble. 

“why? what did i do this time?” he questioned, nose scrunching up in confusion. he hadn’t done much the past few days, not to piss the three kunoichi off, at least. 

“what did you do?” tenten yelled, whipping out a kunai from her back pocket. she held on tightly to the knife, holding back from throwing it in the idiot’s direction. “are you really that dense?”

“i always told you guys he was a dunce.” sakura rolled her eyes as they neared the closest training field. “he never understands what he does when it comes to domestic things, nor does he understand the consequences.”

naruto was utterly confused. what had he done? for the most part, he had been at home, training with shikamaru, eating at ichiraku’s or strolling throughout the village. he hadn’t done anything mischievous, he hadn’t ruined the yamanaka flower shop or tenten’s favorite weapon shop. naruto went through the long list of possibilities that could’ve pissed off the three girls until he finally settled on one, just as he was thrown to the ground by sakura. the breakup. 

hitting the grass with a huff, naruto instantly jumped to his feet and raised his hands in defense. he was surrounded by the three kunoichi, feeling their glaring eyes pierce right through his flesh. naruto knew very well that they were going to be upset when they found out, but he hadn’t expect them to be this pissed off. 

“listen, guys, i know you’re really really really mad at me, but you don’t have to do this! sad things happen all the time and that was just one of those things! just a breakup, that’s all!” 

it was just a breakup, right? no, naruto was being a dimwit as per usual when it comes to a woman’s emotions, it was far more than just a breakup. it was the breaking, the shattering of a heart that had cherished him for years, a decade even. it wasn’t the ending of a small fling, rather the ending of a relationship that held a promising future in the palm of it’s hand. but naruto had closed that fist tight and ended all of the possibilities he and hinata ever had. 

“are you really that thick, naruto?” ino retorted, bending her knees slightly as if she was about to attack. “you think after a year and a half of dating leaving her can be dumbed down to ‘just a breakup’?”   
“i mean… that’s what it was,” he mumbled, lifting his arms and scratching the back of his head. it hadn’t been easy for him to leave hinata, he had spent weeks staying up until the break of dawn contemplating what to do with the feelings emptying his chest. naruto didn’t want to leave her, something just felt out of place to him. their relationship had been perfect at the start, but as time went on things grew too comfortable and naruto didn’t enjoy the routine that had overtaken him and hinata. all the signs in his heart pointed to the idea that he no longer loved hinata and even though a few thing strings tugged his heart in her direction, naruto made the decision to leave her. it wasn’t easy, but it was unavoidable. 

“she’s loved you since you were kids and you think you can break up with her over a bowl of fucking ramen.” tenten stepped up to him, aiming the kunai from earlier at his throat. flames burned in her chocolate eyes, sending chills of fear down naruto’s spine. 

“hinata couldn’t even say your name,” sakura said, walking up to her teammate just as tenten had. “dammit, naruto, she couldn’t even talk about what happened without crying. in fact, she hasn’t even left her house because she’s so terrified of seeing you in the village. do you know how much that hurts to see and hear as her friends?” 

“she doesn’t leave her house?” naruto asked, eyes widening in disbelief. he knew that hinata was sensitive, but she had grown so strong over the years he had never thought something like this would break her down so badly. hinata could face murderers with a smirk on her face, but she couldn’t bare to see him? that didn’t make sense. 

sakura sighed in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose with her index finger and thumb. god, naruto was so stupid and sometimes it genuinely killed sakura to explain things to him. it was like talking to a brick wall with half a brain when it came to discussing emotions to naruto. telling naruto that hinata loved him back before they had got together was just as hard as telling him that he tore her to pieces.

“hinata told us that she stays locked up in her room. she only sees hanabi, shino, and kiba. that’s it. we hadn’t seen her in a little over a week until today. she looked so tired, naruto. her eyes were puffy and red like she had been crying before we even met up, too. you know how her hair is usually straight down and like, really sleek? well today it was tied up and all over the place. her bangs were stringy and not fluffy like they are when she styles them. honestly, it looked like she had just rolled out of bed and stepped outside. you of all people should know that she’s not one to do that.” ino tried her best to make sure that naruto understood what hinata was feeling and how his ex had been earlier. maybe visual examples of how hinata had appeared would get the fact that she was hurting through his damn skull. 

“y-you’re kidding right?” naruto stuttered, his eyes falling to the ground beneath his feet. throughout the years of knowing hinata, he had never seen her look a mess. she was always so well put together and pretty, making it unbelievable to hear that she had been the complete opposite only hours earlier. “she would never go out without making herself look presentable. i would wait hours while she got ready before we’d head out… yeah, you have to be kidding.” 

“well, she’s not kidding, naruto,” tenten huffed, annoyed that he still didn’t understand what they were saying. “we were ready to kick your ass after hearing her side of the story. sakura was about to break the fucking table when hinata started crying.”

“what do i do, then? i don’t love her anymore so it’s not like i can get back together with her! what am i supposed to do if she doesn’t want to see me?” naruto himself was growing visibly frustrated by the confrontation, yet on the inside his heart was cracking at the images of hinata with tears streaming down her cheeks, at the thought of her getting no sleep at night. 

no response was given to the boy, the girls before him just looking at him with eyes that had turned from anger to sadness. they were sad for him, that he was hurting too even though naruto himself couldn’t realize it. his eyes were watering and his entire body was tensed up. they could easily tell that it was from ino’s in depth description of how hinata had been earlier. maybe he didn’t realize it, but the three girls did. naruto still had feelings for hinata. they weren’t at the surface of his heart anymore, but they were still there, because nothing upset him like hinata being pain. he just had to dig deep enough in himself to realize that.

“that’s for you to figure out, naruto.” sakura reached out for her teammate, resting her hand on his shoulder and squeezing slightly to reassure him. she knew naruto very well and was positive in the fact that he would come around eventually. 

nobody said anything after that, simply leaving naruto by himself in the middle of the field to sink in what had happened. the three kunoichi had went after naruto to fight him, but they didn’t need to use their fists or weapons to strike the boy, their words had done just enough. minutes after they left for home, naruto followed suit, dragging his feet across the ground all the way home. beginning to realize what he had done left cracks in his heart. he had really broken her. 

 

a chilled breeze swept in through the open windows of hinata’s bedroom, causing her to pull her blanket closer to her shivering body. it was late at night, far later than hinata liked to stay up. normally, she would be out by two in the morning, three at the latest but the clock on her bed stand was nearing five am and she had yet to fall asleep. the thoughts weaving through her mind prevented her from stepping into any type of dreamland and hinata hated it. she desperately wanted to drift off, but his ghost was haunting her head.

naruto. his name bounced off every corner of her darkened room. surrounding her, trapping her in its grasp, binding her to the thought of him forever. she couldn’t breathe. tears, she could feel hot tears streaming down her burning face yet again. her heart was thumping hard in her chest but she still couldn’t choke out a breath. her head was pounding, like somebody was taking a brick and smashing it against her skull repeatedly. and all she could hear was his name.

hinata hated breakdowns, more than she hated anything else. the way her lungs were wrapped up in chains, the metal pulling tighter and tighter to the point where breathing was no longer an option. she hated coughing on her cracked sobs, throat gone dry from crying for too long. she was thankful that nobody outside of the house would hear her or have to see her like this. hinata feared the thought of her friends seeing her crumble over him like this. truthfully, she didn’t want anybody to see her like this but there was always that one person who would. the one person who was climbing into bed beside her at that moment.

“it’s okay,” hanabi’s tranquil voice was something hinata could latch on to and use to pull herself back down to earth from her outer space mind state. so, she reached out and grabbed onto the red string of her sister’s words, climbing back down the mountain of a breakdown until she was finally back in her own room, not stuck in her mind. 

“you can breathe, it’s all okay.” and hinata could. it took a couple of deep breaths until her chest was moving at a regular pace again, rhythmically going up and down to the beat of a soundless metronome. 

hanabi’s arms wrapped around her sister’s middle, pulling her back close to her chest. hinata needed to be held during times like these, it helped her sink into the mattress and find comfort in her body once again. 

“i—i miss him,” hinata whimpered into the pillow that she had been wrapped around. “i just want to be with him, hanabi. i miss his smile, his laugh, his presence, everything… i thought i would be okay without him, but i’m not and i never will be. he told me he loved me, hanabi. he—he said he felt the same way i did, but he didn’t. he never did, he never loved me and it hurts, hanabi, it hurts so much.”

hanabi traced her elder sisters arms with her fingertips, letting her openly vent. hinata didn’t want a response from her sister, she never did. she only wanted somebody to listen to her cries, her worries, her questions. and if hinata wanted to be a speaker, standing at the top of a pulpit to preach her feelings, then hanabi would be the congregation every time, listening with every fibre of her being.

 

two months had passed and hinata was smiling with ease again. the sun beamed down on her as she walked throughout the village, warming up her face with joy and youthfulness. if lee had been around to see hinata smiling underneath the glowing sun, he would definitely comment about how the springtime of youth was showing in her face and through the pep in her step. with hanabi by her side, hinata felt even better. the two hyuuga girls were strolling around the village, connected at the elbow. they had trained earlier in an open field at the compound and wanted to spend the rest of their day leisurely, so they did. 

“we should stop by the flower shop and get a new bouquet for neji’s grave,” hanabi said gently, still treading lightly on the topic of their fallen brother. 

hinata nodded in response, changing the direction of their steps to head towards the yamanaka’s store. normally, the thought of neji would’ve upset hinata, but she was excited to visit the grave and get to talk to the spirit of him. she had visited his grave a couple of times during her spout of sadness and hadn’t been back since she was shining once again. neji deserved to know that she was feeling like herself once again. 

“what kind of flowers should we get today, hanabi?” asked hinata as the duo neared the shop. hanabi tilted her head to the side, glancing upward in thought. the last flowers they took neji were a beautiful bunch of orchids. this time hanabi wanted to leave something that fit the springtime. 

“how about sunflowers?” she suggested. “neji always loved looking at sunflowers because of their strength.”

hinata nodded in agreement, “i was thinking the exact same.”

they walked down the dirt path a bit longer until they finally reached the yamanaka flower shop. the pungent aroma of various flowers was a smack to hinata’s nostrils. she coughed a bit from the sickly sweet smell but walked further into the shop regardless. ino greeted her friend the second she walked through the door with a wide grin, running out from around the counter and pulling hinata into a tight hug.

“hinata! how have you been lovely?” ino was never one to throw in cute pet names, as seen through years of calling sakura billboard brow, but hinata was her only exception. 

“i’m doing great, ino!” the hyuuga girl responded with a flashy smile that radiated the heaps of positivity that was bubbling in her heart. “hanabi and i are here to get some flowers for neji’s grave.”

ino pulled herself out of the hug and hurried back behind the counter, pulling out a sheet of paper and a pencil to jot down the details of the hyuuga’s request. “what kind?” 

“this time we want sunflowers!” hanabi piped up from behind hinata. 

hinata nodded, confirming the type of flower when ino glanced up at her to double check. “just a standard bouquet, nothing special. neji never liked things to be overdone.” 

“alrighty then! just give me a couple of minutes to get the bouquet together and i’ll have you guys out of here. don’t worry about paying either, this one’s on the house.” before either sister could respond, ino hurried into the back room of the flower shop and began preparing the bouquet. 

hinata strolled throughout the shop while waiting, eyes scanning over all of the premade baskets of flowers on display. as she came across one bouquet, a mixture of ruby red roses and calla lilies, hinata was nearly thrown into the past but she refused to let herself fall down that whirpool. the bouquet was identical to the one naruto had gotten her on their one year anniversary. roses and calla lilies were her favorite flowers. everybody always assumed they were lavenders or lilacs since they matched the shade of her eyes, but no, hinata preferred the deep red of passionate roses and the purity in the white lilies. formed together, a bouquet with those two flowers was pristine and gorgeous. had hinata stopped by months ago, she would’ve cried at the sight but as she stood in front of the basket, she reached out and ran her finger tips over the love symbolizing rose with a gentle smile.

“here you go!” ino exclaimed, stepping out of the back of the shop, arms full of an oversized bouquet of sunflowers. since hanabi was closer to the blonde, she took the bouquet into her grasp, the flowers nearly covering her face.

“thank you, ino. even though you’ll refuse payment, i’m definitely taking you out to eat tomorrow night, okay?” hinata walked up to her friend and nudged her hip with her own. ino, stubborn as ever, shook her head. there was no way she would take any type of repayment.

“you know i won’t let that happen. plus, you’d have to get through sai first,” she said with a wink. 

hinata giggled and waved goodbye to the yamanaka, taking the flowers out of her younger sister’s arms and holding them across her chest. the two left the shop and started the short journey to konoha’s graveyard. the path to the place of memorial was peaceful as it took you throughout the main part of the village, where you would pass the colorful family owned shops and restaurants with bustling consumers. hinata usually loved the walk, but not today. things had been going good for hinata, honestly too good, too perfect to remain that way. everything was so peaceful but of course, rain will fall again, no matter how many days the sun shines. 

he was just a few feet ahead of her, a huge grin on his face as he chatted with iruka in front of a random store. he hadn’t noticed her, thank god. hinata didn’t want him to see her, but if he did, she wanted to stand tall and pay him no mind, nose turned to the sky. it should be easy, right? she had been so optimistic lately, she could definitely face him again. but when the sound of naruto’s voice calling her name from across the street, everything in hinata fell apart. 

“hey, hinata!” naruto’s voice was as cheerful as ever, it was as though they had never broken up. he bounded over the purple haired girl, getting right up in her face with that stupid, cheeky smile. “you look good! how’ve you been?”

hinata opened her mouth to respond, but before she could even utter a word hanabi grabbed her upper arm and tugged her away from the uzumaki. her heart was beating a thousand miles a minute, like she was seeing him for the first time all over again. his hair had grown out a bit over the two months she had stayed away from him. she liked the length, it was better than the extremely short cut he had when they were together. a part of her was screaming, angry that her heart was beating for him. this wasn’t supposed to happen. she wasn’t supposed to be affected by him anymore, but she was. god, she couldn’t stop herself from feeling attraction to the boy full of sunlight no matter what he had done to her. 

she hadn’t realized that she was stuck to the ground, hanabi still tugging relentlessly on her arm and naruto staring right into her eyes with a pondering gaze. her mouth hung open, prepared for a response yet nothing fell from her lips. it took one last forceful pull from hanabi before hinata was jerked from her standing point, the flowers in her arms falling to the ground. with her sister now free from being starstruck, hanabi ran and pulled hinata along behind her. the bouquet of sunflowers laid on the dirt road, getting coated in the dust from hinata’s feet as they ran in the direction opposite of naruto, who was left in shock.

“what just happened?” he mumbled to himself, scratching the back of his neck like he always did. he didn’t feel iruka walk up behind him until the sensei put a hand on naruto’s shoulder.

“you okay?” 

naruto nodded in response, crouching down and picking the flowers off of the ground. he wiped the dust away and held them in his arms, still pondering about the interaction. hinata looked gorgeous, she looked happy. naruto couldn’t hold back the small smile that overtook his lips as he glanced down at the flowers, his mind still full of the way hinata had appeared. his heart felt fuzzy, like it had long ago when he first confessed. it only took a handful of seconds before naruto shook himself out of the daze. they weren’t together anymore and the feelings in his heart meant nothing. it was just because he hadn’t seen her in a while and that was that. the flowers were dropped to the ground once again as naruto turned back to face iruka.

“yeah, i’m great! let’s go get some food.”

 

rumors should be deemed hollow, lacking valuable information and truth, but in konoha, gossip was the backbone to domestic village intelligence. the current rumor sweeping the streets was that uzumaki naruto was seeing someone that wasn’t hyuuga hinata. having kept their breakup between close friends for almost a year, nobody outside of the people they told had any idea that they were no longer together, making it a big shock that naruto was running around the village hand in hand with another girl. 

spreading like a wildfire throughout konoha, hinata couldn’t leave the compound without somebody coming up to her and asking what happened between naruto and herself. she always responded with a simple, “we aren’t together anymore”, and left it at that. it had been so long since their breakup that hinata didn’t want to dig up the sadness that had been buried with their relationship. even now, sitting in a small cafe with sakura, hinata couldn’t escape the people, strangers honestly, that had questions about her dead relationship.

“it’s really annoying, y’know? everywhere i turn somebody’s asking about him and it’s just so irritating,” she grumbled, tapping the small cake on her plate with the silver fork. hinata wasn’t hungry, her appetite diminished when she was questioned only seconds after walking through the door of the cafe. 

“i would be irritated too,” sakura said through a mouthful of her desert. “it’s none of their business, yet since it’s naruto they feel the need to know everything about it. so stupid.”

hinata nodded, agreeing with her pink haired friends statement. 

“just ignore them though, hinata. or punch them. actually scratch the first thing, just hit them for being invasive assholes.” 

laughing, hinata finally took a bite of the vanilla cake before her. maybe she would get violent with somebody if they questioned her about the old relationship one more time. if somebody even said naruto’s name to her she would hit them with gentle step twin lion fists. okay, she actually wouldn’t because hinata is far too kind hearted to hurt somebody without a genuine reason. but she was tired of her ex-boyfriend being brought up around her. 

the two girls remained at the cafe for about an hour longer, eating and talking about anything and everything. sakura had been excelling at the hospital, there were even rumors about her being in training to become the future head of the hospital. hinata beamed with pride at the possibility. if anybody deserved to become head of the hospital, it was definitely haruno sakura.

“so how long have they been together?” hinata asked after a bit of silence passed. she was genuinely curious and wasn’t just being nosey for the sake of it.

“for a good bit, actually. naruto told me last week that they had been together for around a month or two but they had been keeping it on the low. apparently she’s some random girl that none of us have ever met before. she just popped up and kept praising him for being our ‘savior’ or whatever and now here they are,” sakura explained, rolling her eyes at the savior bit. 

hinata scoffed, “of course, she only appreciated him after his efforts in the war. none of the girls that fawn over him now know the true way he is, they only know this idea of him that they have in their head and it’s pretty sad.”

“yeah,” sakura sighed, the two of them had known naruto since the beginning and it was difficult for to just accept these girls who saw him only as a star and not as the poor boy who had nothing and nobody. “well, as long as he’s happy, i guess.”

“mhm.”

once finished with their desserts, hinata and sakura headed out of the cafe, arm in arm. they had planned for a relaxation night at sakura’s new apartment. having recently moved out of her parent’s house and into a small complex, she was excited to have hinata over for a girls night. after all the stress of working at the hospital and from the irritation of the public, the two girls definitely needed a night together.

“you have the face masks, right?” hinata asked. face masks were her favorite part of girls night, they always left her feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world.

“yep! i bought the ones with animal faces on them!” sakura replied with a giggle. she would be lying if she said she wasn’t excited to take silly pictures with her friend in the childish masks.

“how cute—”

“hey! sakura! hinata!” 

god dammit, hinata thought. every time she was having a happy and peaceful moment, naruto just had to pop up and ruin it. but this time there was somebody else beside him to make the interaction even worse. his new girlfriend. 

“hey, naruto,” sakura said, standing in front of hinata, whose eyes were focused behind the oncoming couple. 

“whatcha guys doin’?” he asked, the same old stupid grin plastered on his face. 

as naruto and sakura chatter, hinata couldn’t help but glance at the couple. she noticed his arm was around the stranger’s waist first, then her eyes moved up to the girls face. she was pretty, definitely prettier than her, with chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes, this girl was everything hinata wasn’t. she was warm and full of summer, unlike the hyuuga who was cold and full of winter. hinata felt like throwing up. jealousy was itching its way up her throat, wanting to spew out onto the ground, but hinata held it back. 

“oh, by the way, hinata! this is airi, my girlfriend.” of fucking course, he just had to introduce the two. 

hinata couldn’t get a word out before aira snorted and threw hinata a rude glare. “isn’t this your ex, naruto? why are you introducing us?”

“well… i mean… we’re still kind of friends, so i thought it would be nice to intro—”

“we aren’t friends,” hinata snapped, eyes shooting up to meet naruto’s. the anger and jealousy riling up within her was naturally triggering her byakugan, making aira take a couple of steps back, dragging naruto with her. 

“h-hinata,” the blonde boy started to talk, but hinata cut him off.

“no, we aren’t friends. just exes. there’s no reason to introduce us. i’m in the past and you have nothing to worry about, for now at least. don’t be surprised if deep into your relationship he falls out of love with you, though. he has the tendency to do that.” 

it was refreshing to, for once, snap at somebody and speak from the darker side of her heart. hinata spent so many years being shy and quiet that people walked all over her, but not anymore. she wouldn’t let this stranger be rude to her when she had done nothing at all. plus, it was even better that she got to be rude to naruto at the same time. it relieved some of the anger, even if it was just a tiny portion.

“i think we’ll be going now. bye, naruto,” sakura said, grabbing onto hinata’s arm and pulling her in the direction of her apartment. 

as she was being dragged away, hinata made the instant decision to take one final look at naruto and when she turned back, angry lavender eyes met baby blues full of regret. whatever naruto was feeling, hinata could tell it through his gaze, but she didn’t care. if he housed regret in his heart, then good. he deserved to. 

 

perhaps the girl was out on a mission or just out of the village, but it still didn’t explain why naruto was standing in front of hinata’s house with a sad look ghosting his face. hanabi had called hinata out of her room minutes ago, telling her that naruto refused to leave until he talked to her. knowing how stubborn the uzumaki was, hinata had no choice but to talk to him. 

they sat on a stone bench, hinata far to the right and naruto far to the left. the air around them thick with an awkward silence. he had come to the compound for a reason, so there was no way that hinata was going to talk first. this was all his doing and he had to be the one to break the silence. 

naruto took a deep breath, ruffling his hair and glancing over at hinata. “we aren’t friends?” 

hinata rolled her eyes at his question. this is what naruto had came all the way to her house for? because she said that they weren’t fucking friends? he had to be joking, but hinata knew very well that he wasn’t. 

“why would be friends, naruto?” she snapped, voice as harsh as her fathers. 

“i mean… i thought that just because we broke up didn’t mean that we wouldn’t be friends anymore. i’ve known you for all of my life, i didn’t expect that to throw all the past away.”

“you really are stupid.” hinata was growing angrier by the second, he really didn’t understand the seriousness and consequences of his actions from so long ago. “you know that i’ve been in love with you for over a decade and you think that i could just… jump back to being your friend after you tore me to pieces?”

“it’s been a while since we broke up, though! at least by now we should be able to say hi to each other in the streets,” naruto said, eyes falling back to the ground beneath his feet. hinata was terrifying when she was angry and there was no way he was going to look a pissed off hinata in the eye. 

“just because it’s been a long time doesn’t mean anything! every time i think i’m okay, you fucking pop back up! i told you that i wanted to be away from you the moment you broke up with me and you can’t even respect that.” hinata jumped up from the bench and headed back to her house. she didn’t want to waste another second listening to his bullshit.

as she pushed the front door open and stepped inside, she could hear naruto yelling from back by the bench. “you’ll always be a friend to me, hinata!” 

she shook her head, growing more and more frustrated by the second. maybe it’s easy for you to accept things like that, naruto, but i don’t want to be a friend of yours. never again. 

 

a year had passed since the day hinata last saw naruto face to face. he would be around the village, but never walked up to her or spoke a word in her direction. at least he learned how to listen to somebody for once. hinata was thankful, pleased that he had finally given up on trying to remain friends with her. he still had aira and she still had herself. that’s what was important.

over the past year, hinata had grown closer to all of her friends, but mainly tenten. the girl had persuaded hinata to train with her, since she had an immense knowledge on weaponry and hinata was only well versed in taijutsu. tenten had said something about learning how to fight with weapons would advance her hand to hand combat and prepare her better for the battlefield, if she were ever to step onto the battlefield again. 

it was a bright tuesday morning when hinata headed sluggishly to the first training grounds to meet tenten for their daily training. today, they were going to be sparring all day long. tenten had provided her with enough weapons and knowledge on each one to be able to use it in sparring. today was basically a test to see if hinata had paid attention. 

“good morning!” tenten chirped, she had probably been at the grounds for around an hour now. training with gai had left her body engrained with the schedule of waking up at four am and being at the training spot by five. it was nearing six now and hinata was barely awake. 

“hey, tenten.” hinata rubbed the corners of her eyes with her hand in an attempt to focus her blurred sight. 

“are you ready to spar? i want to really make sure that you’ve got all of this down before we move onto harder stuff!”

“yeah, yeah… let’s get this over with.”

tenten laughed and stretched her shoulders before bending her knees in a fighting stance, one hand was behind her back holding a kunai and the other was balled into a fist across her chest. hinata, on the other hand, was in her usual stance with one palm facing out toward her opponent and the other down by her side except this time she had a small knife in her grasp instead of an open palm. 

not needing a cue, the two jumped at each other and the loud clang of metal clashing rang throughout the open field. tenten had attempted to slash across hinata’s face, but the hyuuga quickly blocked it with the weapon in her hand. the shift in their stances opened a space for hinata to land a blow to tenten’s chest, pushing the girl back a couple of steps but not completely knocking her off her feet. 

hinata was the first to strike next, pulling out three shuriken from her back pocket and aiming them at tenten’s lower stomach. naturally, tenten blocked the three discs with her kunai as if she had the uchiha sharingan and could see all of them coming onto her. 

“that was good,” she said, stepping back a bit. “if i wasn’t quick, i would’ve gotten those straight to the gut.”

“thanks,” hinata mumbled, too focused on fighting to let the compliment sink in. 

the two girls continued to spar, using various weapons and fists all the same. an hour had passed and the both of them were panting, but fighting relentlessly. it wasn’t until hinata moved too far to the left that things got very serious, very fast. 

tenten had thrown a kunai in the direction of hinata’s arm, a place that if hit wouldn’t be too much damage. but hinata was growing tired, unable to keep up with the movement of the knife. a slight move to the left and the next thing hinata knew, she had a kunai plunging through her chest. hinata fell to the ground with a scream that could be heard for miles. she instinctively wanted to pull the kunai out of her flesh, but feared that it was in a bad spot and removing it would only worsen the wound. 

“fuck, hinata! i’m so sorry,” tenten exclaimed, dashing over to her friend and picking her up off the ground. she had to get her to the hospital fast. 

“hold on, okay?” hinata could barely nod, falling lightheaded to the loss of blood. she knew better than to pass out and used the last of her strength to remain conscious. 

tenten theld the hyuuga close to her chest and made a run to the hospital, not having time to notice the blonde haired boy that happened to see her running with a bloody mess in her arms. just from glancing at the hair slung over tenten’s shoulder, naruto knew exactly who she was carrying and took no time in following the elder girl all the way to the hospital. 

the second tenten was inside the hospital, a nurse came and took hinata away to a room to be examined and possibly operated on. a second nurse remained at the desk, asking tenten everything that happened. naruto, having followed tenten inside the hospital, remained at the back of the room in the shadows, listening intently to the situation.

“we were sparring and i threw a kunai, aiming for her arm, but i think she was getting really tired and she moved to the left and it struck her in the upper chest and oh my god, there was just so much blood and i’m really worried because she was already growing weak from the fighting and then that happened and it could be a really bad area to get hit at, i don’t know, i’m just so worried.” tenten was rambling uncontrollably and the nurse wrapped an arm around her shoulders to calm the brown haired girl down. she assured her that the doctors would do all they could for her friend and that she would most likely be okay. 

naruto processed the information as it echoed into his ears. she was fighting. she had been hit in the chest. she was already exhausted. fuck, it wasn’t looking good at all. when the nurse left tenten to sit in the waiting area, naruto stepped out of the darkened corner and sat beside tenten. 

“why didn’t you stop when you noticed she was tired?” he asked, voice thick with worry. tenten flinched in surprise at the sound of his voice, but relaxed when she realized that it was just naruto. she could tell just from naruto’s body language that he was upset. it sounded, to her, that he was placing blame on her shoulders when it had only been an accident.

“we were practicing. both of us were tired, naruto. don’t try to throw the blame all at me when it’s obvious it was an accident,” tenten snapped, sitting up straight in the uncomfortable waiting room seat. 

“you should’ve stopped,” he retorted. 

“why are you even here, naruto?” 

“because i saw you running with hinata in your arms in the direction of the hospital. can i not be worried?” he asked curtly, anger flaring between the both of them. 

“no, actually. you can’t be worried. she’s not yours to worry about anymore, naruto, so you can go.” tenten pushed herself out of the chair and headed to the opposite of the waiting room, closest to the hallway that hinata’s room was in.

naruto scoffed and got up as well, but headed out of the hospital instead of deeper into it. he honestly wasn’t sure why he had ran after the two of them. he knew that he was worried about what happened, but it was more like a force of the heart was pushing him towards hinata. seeing her bloodied scared him and sent him through flashbacks of war and invasion. anger. he felt anger, seeing her hurt like that. it wasn’t right of him to snap at tenten like that, but he couldn’t help himself. hinata had been hurt, the girl he cared about.

stopping in his tracks, naruto stared blankly at the empty village in front of him. the girl he cared about. the girl he loved. there was no other explanation for his anger or for the sting he felt at tenten’s honesty. naruto still had feelings for hinata. they were always there, somewhere at the pit of his stomach, hiding between the insecurities and fear of ever hurting her. it was erupting within him, taking over every inch of his body. he had really fucked up with hinata and it was far too late to make things right again. 

“she’s not yours to worry about anymore, naruto…”

tenten hadn’t been lying, but it was the harsh honesty that made the words cut into his heart like a knife. as naruto headed back home he couldn’t help but glancing around at the building on either side of him. they were physical embodiments of how he felt. empty.

 

the wound from sparring with tenten had been nothing serious, but it still left the six hokage questioning whether or not allowing hinata to go back on missions again was a good idea. but with a determined hyuuga in his office, providing him with a long list of why she wanted to go back into the field, kakashi couldn’t say no. hinata, a jounin before she had stepped back from missions, was back on a team. 

hinata had gone on various missions since she waltzed back into the life of a kunoichi. most of them had been b-rank, even a couple a-ranks but she hadn’t been put to any task that challenged her, yet. it has been hinata’s lucky day when she stood in the hokage’s office around noon, receiving her newest mission. s-rank. her and three other jounins would be going to a small village outside of konoha and infiltrating for information. there had been rumors that they were hiring shinobi from tiny villages to build and possibly attack konoha. it was hinata’s team to find out who these shinobi were and who was trying to invade the leaf.

that day had been three months ago and the mission was not going smoothly. the team had gotten information easily within the first few weeks, finding out the list of people piling up to attack their village and just as they were finding out the one who was making the payments, their cover had been blown. four against fifty was not a fair fight. 

three buff men surrounded hinata, cornering her in between two buildings near the edge of the small village. 

“fucking bitch, you really thought you would get away with this? we always knew you were suspicious, but we had to listen to our dumbass leader and trust you hidden leaf fuckers.” one man taunted, sword drawn and pointed towards hinata’s throat. 

she faked a whimper, pushing back against one of the buildings as if she was scared for her life. she wasn’t, but was simply waiting for an opening. when the sword wielding man snorted at her whimper and turned to his buddy to the right, hinata striked. 

it didn’t take a second to activate twin lion fists and shove her fists right through the man. although hinata had spent so much time training in ways that didn’t involve utilizing chakra, she had grown a lot stronger on her own and now had the power to kill a man simply with her fists. well, at least a man like this. the sword hit the ground with a clang and the other men went to run from hinata, but she was too fast for them. tripping one and snapping the neck of the other, hinata picked up the sword from the ground and shoved it into the chest of the the man she had tripped. 

keeping the sword on her, hinata ran to find her teammates only to see two dead konoha shinobi on the ground, bodies bloodied and nearly unrecognizable. beastly anger riled up within her as she activated her byakugan, spotting out countless enemies in the bushes surrounding her.

“so you want to hide,” she chuckled, pulling out shuriken that were heavier than usual from the bag attached to her hip. “that’s completely fine.”

hinata held the shuriken between the curves of her fingers. she crossed her arms in front of her face and took note of the enemies position before throwing all six discs out. a technique tenten had showed her, hinata had struck the hearts of six shinobi in one go. weak cries echoing throughout the area as they fell lifeless. the heaviness of these shuriken made killing quick and easy. one of those to the heart and it was over for you. 

out of the corner of her eye, hinata noticed movement but recognized the chakra as that of a konoha ninja. she turned to face her comrade, hoping to see a look of hope but was met with a face of fear. 

“hinata, move!” the shinobi screamed, but it was too late. 

she could feel the metal pushing through her skin, splitting her flesh in half. a sword through her back. blood gushed from her chest and hinata fell to the ground without a sound, too shocked to even make a sound. the last thing she could remember was the sound of a body hitting the ground beside her and arms lifting her up and starting to run.

-  
everybody in the village was terrified at the sight of the jounin, haruo, rushing back into the village with a dying hyuuga in his arms. kakashi found out in no time, being immediately told by the ninja at the gates of the village. haruo didn’t stop running once he hit the village, yelling at the gatekeepers to alert the hokage that the mission had failed and that he was taking hyuuga hinata, who was in critical condition, to the hospital. 

the hospital was full scurrying nurses, keeping hinata’s friends and family out of the way as tsunade and sakura operated on the dying kunoichi. hanabi was sobbing in the arms of her father, begging for her sister to be saved. kiba and shino sat silently, both of their eyes glued to the floor and legs trembling with worry. tenten was waiting again by the hallway that lead to the operating room, tears rolling down her cheeks. ino, choji, and sai were sitting close together, sniffling and praying that their friend would make it out alive. shikamaru had gone to find naruto who was blind to the events that had happened. 

naruto awoke to a continuous banging on his front door. 

“wake the fuck up, dammit! hinata’s in the fucking hospital!” 

that was shikamaru yelling… wait… it took a second for the words to process in his brain. hinata. hospital. naruto hopped out of bed and pulled on the nearest tshirt and sweatpants, barely getting his shoes on completely before running out of his apartment, pushing right past shikamaru and heading to the hospital.

naruto was hit by the piercing winter air, he probably should’ve grabbed a jacket but he didn’t have time for that, he had to get to hinata. his heart was pounding as his feet his the rough ground. why? why had she been ending up in the hospital so much recently? granted, this was the second time hinata had been in the hospital but it was two times too many for naruto. by the looks of it, the way shikamaru had came all the way to his apartment, this was serious. he knew about her being on an infiltration mission. it must’ve gone wrong. with worrying thoughts clouding his head, naruto ran faster and faster until he reached the hospital.

the golden haired boy didn’t speak a word to anybody as he rushed through the door. he didn’t want to talk to nurses, he didn’t want to talk to friends, he didn’t want to talk to the fucking hokage, he wanted to find hinata. although he wanted to run straight to her, he had to go into sage mode to be able to detect her chakra perfectly with the amount of people around. so, he hid in the corner of the hospital like he had the last time and stood completely still until he felt the nature energy surge within him. it didn’t take but a moment to figure out where she was. 

naruto snuck past nurses through the door, making a run for it once back in the area of the operating rooms. he dashed down twisting hallways until he could feel what was left of hinata in the room before him. now, naruto didn’t have the best common sense around but he did know that it would make things more difficult if he were to barge in on a surgery. so, he remained in the viewing area, watching as tsunade and sakura worked relentlessly on the purple haired girl.

he felt sick to his stomach, seeing hinata lying motionless on the operating table. it had been a wound right through her chest. naruto couldn’t fight back tears at the sight of dried blood splattered on her pale skin. the wound was still half open with sakura working on closing it up. bile crawled up his throat, but he choked it back. there was no way he would throw up here, not when hinata was down there dying. he had to be strong, for her.

“you shouldn’t be here, y’know.” the voice spooked naruto, making him jump. he had been too focused on the body through the window to pay attention to his surroundings.

“shizune… i’m sorry, i really am. i know i shouldn’t be here, but i… i have to be.”

“why?” shizune inquired, stepping up beside naruto to watch the surgery going down in front of them.

“f-for her.” his voice cracked and before naruto knew it, he was sobbing. his palm found the window, bracing him from falling to the ground in tears. fuck, he hated this. he hated seeing her like this. although there was no way he could have, he felt as though he should’ve been there to protect her. he had protected countless times and the one time he’s not, she gets seriously injured. it wasn’t right. 

shizune rubbed his back with the palm of her hand, calming the man she still saw as a kid. she was skilled at reading emotions and could tell through his tears how hard the situation was hitting him. it was clear as day that naruto still had feelings for the hyuuga girl and he was worried that he would lose her before he had the chance to get her back again. 

“they’re doing all they can. they’re both extremely talented. i’m sure she’ll be okay.”

“but what if she’s not?” naruto whimpered, his forehead falling against the window with a soft thump. the noise gained the attention of sakura, who looked up to see her friend crying through the glass. she had tears in her own eyes, but pushed them back and got back to operating, working harder than she ever had before. she was going to save hinata.

“she will be,” shizune replied, her voice sending calming chills down naruto’s spine.

“i really hope so.”

“you love her again, don’t you?” the medical kunoichi asked, wanting to bring out the hope within naruto.

he chuckled sadly, running his fingers through his blonde hair and tugging at the ends of the strands. of course, he still loved her. he had a shitty way of showing it, but he did love her. their breakup happened around two years ago. it was winter then and naruto’s heart had grown chilled with comfort routine. he had wanted the scorching sun again, not the peaceful snowfall. naruto thought that he had fallen out of love because he missed the fun, but he never actually talked to hinata about how he felt. no, he just grew distant and eventually left her. he hated himself for it and for how long it took him to realize what he had truly done. 

his boyish mindset had left him unsure of feelings that he hadn’t even spoken about. it was so stupid, that he had promised to himself that he would never hurt hinata but then turned around and did the complete opposite of what he promised. he fucked everything up. their relationship, their bond, her. naruto thought getting a new girlfriend would make it easier to erase the thoughts of hinata, but it only made it worse. it sparked conflict between the two and only angered the only he truly loved. everywhere he turned, he was making shitty mistakes and hurting hinata. now, he wanted nothing more than to make it up to her.

naruto had broken up with aira weeks ago. there was no need for him to stay with somebody that would never compared to the lilac-eyed hyuuga. aira had been fine with it, she herself had fallen out of love with naruto, claiming that she was only ever in love with the idea of him but not who he actually was. taking a deep breath, naruto knows that the consequences of his past actions may include never seeing a happy day where he and hinata are together again. 

nonetheless, naruto doesn’t hold back when answering. “do i love her again…? i never stopped.”

 

thirteen hours later, the surgery had been a success. hinata was still unconscious, but could wake up any minute, and would be just fine after a couple of weeks of recovering. when visitors were allowed into her new room, there had been a huge argument about it. shino and kiba wanted to go in, but hanabi had the higher hand being blood-related to her. naruto didn’t partake in any arguing, just sitting outside of her room and waiting for everybody else to leave. 

it was past two in the morning when kiba and shino finally left. hanabi had left a bit after midnight, hiashi having to drag her out of the hospital room. hinata’s two teammates shot him nasty glares when he pushed past them into her room, but naruto ignored them. he was there for her, not them. 

sitting down in the chair closest to her bedside, naruto reached out and grabbed hinata’s hand. it was still colder than usual, but he could feel her pulse and that was all that mattered. it had been too long since naruto held her hand, yet he still instinctively intertwined their fingers as he scooted as close to the bed as possible. 

he wanted to speak, but didn’t know where to start. he wanted to apologize for everything, but not when his words would fall on deaf ears. regardless, naruto didn’t stop himself from rambling to the still and silent hinata.

“h—hey hina…” he sniffled, tears threatening to fall just from saying her name. naruto ran his thumb over the back of her hand to calm himself, breathing in before speaking again. 

“i’m so proud of you, i just want to get that out first. you fought so hard, in the field and through your surgery. i’m so fucking proud that you made it through everything. i… i always told you that you were strong, whether or not i was backing you up, you were strong… you just didn’t see it in yourself but now you do, i can tell that you do… uh, anyway. i also want to say something that should feel foreign, but doesn’t. i love you, hinata. i love you so much and i’m so sorry for being so fucking stupid all this time. i remember telling you that i couldn’t love you for eternity and the truth is that… i can’t. because i’ll love you past then. when time itself has fallen to the hands of death, i will still be out there in the world loving you with my entire heart. once you wake up, i’m going to tell you this all again, okay? i know you’ll probably fight me and not want to hear it, but as long as i get to tell you then… then i’ll be fine. i’m gonna let you rest now, hina. i love you, again.” 

naruto placed a gentle kiss to the top of hinata’s forehead before letting go of her hand and stepping out of the hospital room. maybe if he had stayed moments longer he would’ve caught the slight smile that ghosted the lips of a hyuuga girl who had woken up minutes before.

 

crickets were chirping in the summer night, their noises coming in through hinata’s open window. however, it’s not the irritating chirps that wake hinata from her slumber, no, it’s the continuous tapping that pulls her out of her dreams. 

yawning, hinata sits up and stretches. she opens her eyes and can see a grinning uzumaki boy outside of her open window. rolling her eyes, she lays down and turns over to drift back off to sleep. it wasn’t even daybreak and naruto was bothering her. 

“hinata!” he whisper-yelled, “hey, hinata!”

the hyuuga girl groaned, sitting back up again and sending a glare to the boy outside her window. “what do you want, naruto?” 

“i want to talk,” he answered, a serious look taking over his face. since hinata had been out of the hospital, they hadn’t spoke once. naruto had no idea that she had heard most of what he said the night of her operation. only sakura knew, since she had to tell her when completely woke up and was actually responsive, not just able to hear things going on around her. to naruto’s knowledge, hinata was still pissed at him. she had been too frightened to tell him that she heard everything, even though it probably would’ve been easier than keeping it locked away in her heart.

“about what?” 

“us.”

letting out a sigh, hinata pushed herself out of bed and pulled on a pair of slippers. she walked over to the window and motioned for naruto to step back so she could sneak out. hinata slid out of the house through the window that barely fit her, nearly falling when she hit the ground. naruto moved as if to catch her, but hinata caught herself and stood up straight.

“what time is it?” she asked, combing her fingers through her bed-ridden hair. 

“doesn’t matter, what does matter is that it’s almost sunrise,” naruto said, grabbing her hand with his and dragging her off of the hyuuga land. 

hinata allowed herself to be led all the way to the training grounds that was mainly hills. it was the perfect place to watch the sun break over the horizon. once the two made it to the top of the hill, hinata plopped down onto the ground with a tired huff, naruto following suit. 

“so,” she started, “you wanted to talk?”

naruto nodded and held out his hand for hinata to hold again. reluctantly, she placed her hand in his, to which he intertwined their fingers with a small smile. her touch gave him the boost he needed to pour his heart out.

“well, i wanted to apologize for everything. i’ve been… so utterly idiotic these past couple of years. i’ve hurt you too many times and it kills me to know that i’ve made you breakdown and get no sleep and just… feel like shit. i never wanted to hurt you, but i did and i hate myself for it. but this isn’t about me, this is about you. hinata… you deserve the entire universe and more and i always thought that i would be the one to give it to you and honestly, i still have this feeling in my heart that i will be the one. i remember telling you that i couldn’t love you for eternity and the truth is…”

hinata cut him off, “that you can’t, because you’ll love me past then. right?”

naruto blinked, shocked that she knew exactly what he was going to say. “h-how did you know that…”  
laughing, hinata looked up at the sky that was slowly turning from a dark indigo to a lively peach. “i was awake when you were in my room. i wasn’t really responsive, but i could hear you. i heard most of what you said and i haven’t been able to get it out of my head since then. you’ve been haunting my thoughts for the past two years, but this has been the only time i enjoyed it.”

“but—”

“shush. i know how sorry you are, that you love me. i told you that i heard it all. so, it’s my turn to talk now. you probably know how hurt i was. i got no sleep, hanabi had to hold me most nights because i was crying so much, i didn’t leave the house, and i couldn’t even face you without feeling like shit. you—you really hurt me naruto and although i want to forgive you, i can’t.”

although naruto expected that, he couldn’t stop his heart from shattering in his chest. no number of apologies or “i love you”s could make their situation just disappear as if it never happened. 

“i understand, i wouldn’t forgive me either.”

“but that doesn’t mean that i don’t love you,” hinata whispered, eyes still focused on the sky as the sun began to make its way into view. “there’s no way that i could ever stop loving you, naruto. you’re a part of me and just because you aren’t forgiven now, doesn’t mean that you won’t be in the future. you’ll just have to work really, really, really hard to make up for everything.” 

a grin broke out over naruto’s face and he couldn’t hold himself back from practically flinging himself at hinata in a hug. the feeling of having her pulled close to his chest again for the first time in years was indescribable. but if he were to place one word on it, it would be right.

“i promise you, hinata, i’ll do anything and everything that you want. i can make it up to you, i know that i can!” naruto exclaimed, sitting up straight again. he pulled his hand out of hers and held up his pinky. “pinky promise.”

as the sun broke over the horizon, lighting up the world with hues of cotton candy pink and a peachy orange. hinata pushed naruto’s hand to the side and stretched up, pressing her lips against his to seal their promise.

 

“dad, you were really dumb back then.” boruto crossed his arms over his chest, huffing and throwing a childish glare at his father. after hearing the story of heartbreak and growth between his two parents left him defensive for his mother. “you better not break mom’s heart again or i’ll whoop you!”

naruto chuckled, ruffling his son’s hair. “i would never, kiddo. you have nothing to worry about. i know for a fact that i’m gonna love her forever.” 

boruto continued to grumble, jumping at his father and throwing playful punches at his chest. “i’m serious! if you hurt mom ever again, it’s over for you dad!”

“you sound just like your aunt sakura,” naruto replied, holding his chest, pretending that the child’s punches were doing him damage. “and your punches are just as strong as hers, boruto!” 

hinata flashed a gentle smile at her husband, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. their story was a long and bumpy road, full of parallel paths that eventually wound up together and thinking back on those times of hardship always made her tear up. although there was once a time where naruto had said he couldn’t love hinata forever, it was clear through the bonding love of their family that he would love her for longer than eternity. 

“mommy, you’re happy now, right? papa makes you really happy?” himawari, who was sitting in hinata’s lap, asked. she looked up at her mother with widened round ocean eyes, genuinely wondering if her mother was happy.

“of course i am!” hinata exclaimed, hugging her daughter tightly. himawari burst into a fit of giggles, allowing herself to be squished. “you two and your father make me so incredibly happy. i can’t even put it into words.” 

this time it was naruto’s turn to smile at his wife. to this day, he had never forgiven himself for once being the reason of hinata’s heartache even though he had spent years now making her happy. times like these reminded him that he made the right decision in life, getting back together with her, marrying her, having children with her. she was the light of his life, as he was hers. 

hinata once thought their their love story was meant to be written in the stars, but it never was. their love story was written in the rays of the golden sun that shone down on and illuminated the world. it was the glowing yellows and soft pinks of daybreak, the bubbly blue afternoon sky that gave everything beneath it’s grasp clarity. they were the lively spring days that brought harmony to their family. from a tiny bud to a blossoming flower, their love was an everlasting garden of sunflowers, standing strong and golden.


End file.
